When I was 12, my mom lost 3 million dollars gambling.
She smashed my piggy bank where I’d been saving for tuition, threatening me not to breathe a word to Dad.
Her only consolation was using my own money to buy me some snacks.
We stood in front of a greasy fried chicken stand, the air thick with the stench of old oil, and watched my dad walk out of a luxury boutique with his mistress on his arm.
Trailing behind them was their illegitimate daughter, Susan.
That day, my mom forced me to drink an entire bottle of pesticide, threatening Dad that if he didn’t leave that woman, she’d kill me.
The pesticide burned bitter and sharp down my throat, the surgical lights overhead spun until I wished I could die.
They had to change all my blood three times before Dad finally agreed to come back home, restoring our family’s fake sense of wholeness.
Susan hated me.
Hated that I survived. Hated that I ruined her mother’s life. Hated the shame of being called a bastard.
She wished she could destroy me herself.
I was there for every one of Kelvin’s dramatic confessions that set the whole school buzzing.
He was handsome, loaded
Пe tossed money around like it was nothing, just numbers on a screen.
Susan relished being the center of attention, finally having the upper hand over me, so she never accepted his love.
I used to be crazy jealous, too
Wishing it were me buried under roses and bills
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Chapter 2
Hating that I was stuck in poverty, clawing at the edges only to find more quicksand.
So I posted on Instagram, “Being abandoned is the original sin–no redemption.”
Of course, Susan couldn’t sit still after that.
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When Kelvin landed his helicopter on the school field, petals raining down, I knew the show was about to begin.
“Hey, little stray, how’d you like to be my princess?”
He smiled, all wicked charm, reaching out to me.
Just to drag me into hell.
That night, Susan posted on the school forum, “So–called pure girls are just waiting for the right price.”
She’s right–I want money. Lots and lots of money.
Enough to weave into wings and fly me out of this swamp of a life.
My parents always said it was my fault they never divorced.
But the truth is, they’re the guilty ones. I’m the one sentenced to death.
Dad would drink himself stupid, beat me bloody, then pass out in the bedroom.
Mom would come home from gambling, hunting for cash, smashing my piggy bank again and again.
She’d even crawl on the floor to scrape up a single dollar that slipped under the bed.
Rotten food, garbage, endless screaming and fighting–I was done with it all.
Every time my test scores came out, I imagined that perfect score transforming into wings, lifting me out of this twisted, suffocating home.
On my desk, the romance novel I’d read was torn to tatters–the prince would spend millions to rescue his broken flower
I used to dream that maybe, just maybe, a prince would show up for me, showering me with cash and saving my life.
Someone like me should never have crossed paths with Kelvin
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Chapter 2
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But Susan made herself the bait, sharpening Kelvin into a weapon for revenge.
He stepped straight out of a romance novel, old money, several tens of billions in the bank, a face like an angel, turning heads wherever he went.
Most importantly, he spent money without a second thought.
That was all I needed.
I was still short 300,000 dollars. Once I saved up,
I’d be gone.
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